Django vs FastAPI: Choosing the Right Python Web Framework

Why I studied this

As a beginner learning Python and web development, I wanted to understand the differences between Django and FastAPI.
These are two of the most popular Python web frameworks, but they are used in different situations.
Since I’m planning to build both small APIs and complete websites, I needed to figure out which one is best for which use case.

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What I did

What is Django?

Django is a high-level full-stack web framework that includes everything needed to build a complete web application.

Built-in Features

• ORM (Object Relational Mapper): interact with databases using Python instead of SQL
• Admin Panel: auto-generated UI to manage models
• Authentication System: login, signup, permissions
• Templating System: render HTML with Python data
• Middleware: process requests/responses
• Security: CSRF/XSS/SQL Injection protection

Example Project Use Case

If I were building a blog or an e-commerce site with an admin backend, Django would be a good choice.

Example Code: URL Routing and View

# urls.py
from django.urls import path
from . import views

urlpatterns = [
    path("hello/", views.hello_view),
]

# views.py
from django.http import HttpResponse

def hello_view(request):
    return HttpResponse("Hello from Django!")

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What is FastAPI?

FastAPI is a modern, async-first web framework for building high-performance APIs using Python 3.7+.

Built-in Features

• Async support out-of-the-box (async def)
• Automatic API docs via Swagger and ReDoc
• Type checking using Python’s type hints
• Pydantic-based data validation
• Extremely fast (comparable to Node.js and Go)

Example Project Use Case

If I wanted to expose a machine learning model as a web service or build a lightweight API backend for a mobile app, I’d use FastAPI.

Example Code: Basic API

# main.py
from fastapi import FastAPI

app = FastAPI()

@app.get("/hello")
async def hello():
    return {"message": "Hello from FastAPI!"}

Visit /docs in your browser to get auto-generated interactive API docs.

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Key Differences

Feature	Django	FastAPI
Target Use	Full websites (HTML, admin)	RESTful APIs
Admin Interface	Yes (built-in)	No (need 3rd-party or manual)
ORM	Built-in	External (like SQLAlchemy)
HTML Template Engine	Yes	No (only JSON responses)
Async Support	Limited	Fully supported
Performance	Moderate	Extremely fast
API Docs	Manual setup	Auto-generated
Learning Curve	Steep	Beginner-friendly

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What I learned

• Django is like a Swiss Army knife: it’s heavy but comes with everything needed for traditional websites.
• FastAPI is lightweight, fast, and great when I only need an API.
• Django requires more setup but handles complex apps better.
• FastAPI is easier to start with for simple API services or ML projects.

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What I want to do next

• Build a simple blog with Django using its ORM and admin features
• Deploy a REST API using FastAPI and test async database queries
• Try integrating FastAPI with SQLAlchemy to manage databases
• Explore combining both: Django for internal admin, FastAPI for external API

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